Tough Little Boys
by maddieclaybourne
Summary: Mac looks back on the moments he's shared with his daughter. Song fic to Gary Allan's "Tough Little Boys"
1. Chapter 1: Holding My Baby Girl

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Title: Tough Little Boys

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Tough Little Boys, Gary Allan or the characters from CSI: New York I only own Mac and Lindsay's daughter.**

Summary: This is a song fic to the great and all true song Tough Little Boys by Gary Allan. In this fic Mac Taylor is looking back on his life and how his daughter has turned him from a tough little boy to a big baby again.

Chapter One: Holding My Baby Girl

_**Well I never once**_

_**Backed down from a punch**_

_**Well I'd take it square on the chin**_

_**Well I found out fast**_

_**A bully's just that**_

_**You've got to stand up to him**_

_**So I didn't cry when I got a black eye**_

_**As bad as it hurt I'd just grinned**_

_**but when tough little boys grow up to be dads**_

_**they turn into big babies again**_

Mac's POV

When the doctor first handed my now clean and pronounced fully healthy little girl over to me I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. As I looked at her it was hard for me to hold back the tears that were clouding my vision from fully seeing her, but when my eyes finally focused and I saw her for the first time she was truly breathtaking.

She looked so much like her mother it was unbelievable, okay well it was still tough to tell who she looked like more but she had her mother's soft light caramel hair and my blue eyes. She really was a beautiful baby.

I've never been a crier, I didn't really even cry much when my first wife Claire died in the 9/11 attack accept for at her funeral and occasionally when I would go visit her grave but as I held my little girl I couldn't help but cry. I've wanted children for so long that it just took me by surprise how wonderful it felt too finally after nine long months hold her, my little girl in my arms.


	2. Chapter 2: First Steps and School Buses

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Chapter Two: First Steps and School Buses

_**Scared me to death**_

_**When you took your first steps**_

_**And I'd fall every time you fell down**_

_**Your first day of school I cried like a fool**_

_**And I followed your school bus to town**_

_**Well I didn't cry when Old Yeller died**_

_**At least not in front of my friends**_

_**But when tough little boys grow up to be Dads**_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

Mac's POV

Eight months later . . .

"Come on Pieces," I coaxed her using her nickname from my sitting position near the couch. My wife Lindsay had our daughter about five feet away from me. She had her standing up and was holding her sides.

"Walk to Daddy." Lindsay encouraged.

Reese flashed me a toothless grin as she began to take a step forward with Lindsay still encouraging her, "Come on baby girl you can do it! Walk to Daddy!"

After taking a few steps more forward she was out of Lindsay's reach and she allowed Reese to walk on her own. Her chubby legs made it about two more steps forward before they gave way and she fell back down onto her diapered bottom.

"Oh!" Lindsay and I both winced as Reese giggled.

She then crawled the remaining way to me and climbed up my legs so she could sit in my lap.

"She'll get it eventually." Lindsay said smiling as she walked over to sit with us.

"Yeah, I know." I agreed as Reese's tiny little hand reached up and grabbed my chin making me chuckle.

———————————————————————————————————

Five years later . . .

I looked over at Lindsay after watching Reese happily eat her bagel asking for the millionth time, "Are you sure she's old enough to ride the bus?"

"Mac, the school is only about a half hour away from here." Lindsay says smiling as she bounces our family's newest addition Cameron Spencer in her arms.

"But it's her first day of school!"

"Don't worry, Daddy! I can ride the bus. I'm a big girl now!" Reese shouts proudly as she brings her dirty dish to the sink and drinks all of her milk and orange juice.

As I frowned and was about to say something, Lindsay cut me off replying softly, "You knew this day would come, Mac."

After seeing that Reese brought her dish to the sink and finished both of her drinks Lindsay stands up and glances at the clock announcing, "Okay Pieces the bus will be here in a few minutes go get your backpack."

Reese happily hops out of her chair and runs into the foyer with Lindsay and I following close behind.

"Give Mommy and brother a kiss." Lindsay requests.

Reese smiles and happily obliges her mother giving her a quick kiss on the lips and her brother a soft kiss on his forehead giggling at the way his soft hair tickles her nose as she pulls away.

"Okay now Daddy's gonna walk you down the street to the bus stop."

"Come on Daddy, hurry up!" Reese yells as she opens up the front door.

"I'm coming Sweetheart."

I had to smile at her excitement but it was still hard for me to believe that she was five years old and now going to be a kindergartner. Where had all the years flown to anyhow?

After giving Lindsay and Cameron each a kiss I followed Reese outside where we walked hand in hand down from our house to the end of the street where the bus would pick the kids up every morning. I smiled at my little girl as she went on and on about anything and everything leaving me completely entertained.

I see the bus is slowly approaching our stop and crouched down to her level saying, "Okay Pieces you be a good girl at school today. Mommy and Cameron will be waiting for you when you come home, okay? You have lots of fun at school all right?"

"Okay." She said as she wrapped her small arms around my neck as I wrapped mine around her small body.

And that's when the water works started happening as I could feel the tears welling from behind my eyes. I swallowed and took a deep breath as I pulled away to kiss her cheek and say, "Have a good day at school sweetie."

"Daddy don't cry. This is a happy time not a sad one."

"I know but Daddy's crying because he's happy not because he's sad."

As the bus comes in front of us I watch as she happily skips up to the bus and then climbs in. I watch her caramel haired pigtailed head bounce from seat to seat until she finally finds one to her liking and as she sits down she waves at me and I wave back.

I wiped my tears as I turned back around to go to the house and as I'm walking up the steps a thought enters my head but when I see my wife still standing in the doorway holding my truck keys I see she's already read my mind.

"You know me to well." I say to kiss her before taking the keys. "I do don't I. Oh and Mac don't, be too obvious when you're following her bus okay?"

I shook my head as I climbed into my truck and I managed to catch up with the bus when it was about three and a half blocks away from where the school was located. The bus finally had arrived at Greenwich Grove Elementary and I stopped at the sidewalk just behind the bus. I watched as child after child exited the vehicle and sat up when I saw Reese's polka dotted sundress form skip off hand in hand with another little girl.

I smiled proudly due to the fact she had already made a friend and then suddenly she turns and looks directly at me.

"Bye Daddy!" She yells waiving widely along with her new little friend.

I was caught red handed and apparently my little girl knows me as well as my wife. Smiling sheepishly I timidly wave back and watched as she and the other little girl entered the building. After doing a U-turn I headed back to the house with tears forming behind my eyes like a fool.

Man, this kind of stuff could kill a guy. The entire way to work I dabbed my eyes with the collar of my dress shirt.


	3. Chapter 3: Boys and Giving Her Away One

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ChapterThree: Boys and Giving Her Away Part One

_**Well I'm a grown man**_

_**And as strong as I am**_

_**Sometimes it's hard to believe**_

_**How one little girl with little blonde curls **_

_**Could totally terrify me**_

_**If you were to ask**_

_**My wife would just laugh**_

_**She'd say, "I know all about men."**_

_**But when tough little boys grow up to be Dads **_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

Mac's POV

"I'm going to kill him." I tell Lindsay.

"Mac," She warns sternly coming to stand with me in the doorway of Reese's bedroom, "Boys will be boys."

Apparently during recess Reese was pushed down by a boy in her class and she came home in tears that afternoon.

"I'm sure you were the exact same way back then," She says, "He probably just likes her."

I scoffed, "What does a five-year-old boy know about liking girls anyway?"

"Not much I'm sure. "

"Well Reese isn't dating until she's thirty."

"We'll see how well that works out. Now come on Cam's asleep and I'm feeling tired so let's head off to bed."

"That actually sounds very good." I muse wolfishly as Lindsay and I share one last look into Reese's bedroom before heading up to bed ourselves.

_**Well I know one day I'll give you away**_

_**And I'm gonna stand there and smile**_

_**And when I get home and I'm all alone**_

_**Well I'll sit in your room for a while**_

_**I didn't cry when Old Yeller died **_

_**At least not in front of my friends**_

_**But when tough little boys grow up to be Dads**_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

_**When tough little boys grow up to be Dads**_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

Eighteen Years later . . .

I am currently sitting across from a very nervous young man at the Manhattan restaurant Mesa Grill.

"Danny, just spit it out." I say to Daniel Messer Jr. the son of my fellow NYPD crime lab colleague Danny Messer and his wife Dr. Giada DeLaurentiis-Messer kept uncharacteristically stuttering and rambling.

"Yes, sir." He says softly, "Um well, um ahem as you know Reese and I have dated since highschool and we even made it through two years of a long distance relationship before I moved back out here to New York to attend NYU along with her after graduation."

I nod my head urging him to continue as I sipped my beer.

"Well I've been thinkin a lot about this lately and um ahem traditionally this is what you're supposed to do first." He continued stuttering until he suddenly blurted out, "I wanna marry your daughter, sir!"

I sat back in my seat not expecting the nervous young man to tell me that and I paused for a moment before asking, "You want to marry my daughter, Danny?"

"Yes, sir I do. I've been thinkin about this a lot lately and I realized I've loved Reese since we played around together as little kids at the precinct. And I wanna spend the rest of my life with her. So I guess I'm kinda askin for ya blessin, sir."

"Well," I started before admitting, "I wasn't expecting this."

I stared across from him for a minute and if it was possible he actually began to sweat more. As I stared at him I tried to think of one reason any reason he wasn't worth marrying my daughter and I couldn't think of one. I guess that made up my mind. Releasing a breath I smiled across from him, "Okay son I give you my blessing to marry my daughter."

He straightened up in his seat asking, "For real?" I just chuckled and extended my hand which he shook graciously, "Thanks a lot sir."

"Well go on Danny get out of here and ask her."

Danny nearly jumped out of his seat and said, "Thank you again so much Mr. Taylor."

"Son," I said to shake my head, "I changed your diapers when you were a baby I think you can call me Mac."

He laughs the one identical to his father's and says, "Yes, sir I mean yes Mac. I guess I better get going."

I smile sadly as I watch the twenty-three-year-old young man the spitting image of his father leave the bar with an extra bounce in his step. I knew this day would come but I didn't expect it to come by this fast.


	4. Chapter 4: Boys and Giving Her Away Two

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Chapter Four: Boys and Giving Her Away Part Two

_**Well I know one day I'll give you away**_

_**And I'm gonna stand there and smile**_

_**And when I get home and I'm all alone**_

_**Well I'll sit in your room for a while**_

_**Well I didn't cry when Old Yeller died**_

_**At least not in front of my friends**_

_**But when tough little boys grow up to be Dads**_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

_**When tough little boys grow up to be Dads **_

_**They turn into big babies again**_

Mac's POV

Well the months have passed leading up to my little girl's big day and now it was finally here.

"Daddy," Reese says softly as I turned around, "It's time."

I took in my daughter's presence amazed by how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a gown that she had designed all on her own since she was now finishing up her college education as a fashion major at NYU. What really amazed me was how much she looked like Lindsay the only difference was Reese had stunning blue eyes that she inherited from me.

I crooked my arm and smiled down at her as she slipped her arm into mine and then we walked out to the closed doors of the church. "Here Comes the Bride" began to play and the doors opened. Immediately I felt Reese's hand tighten around my own and I chuckled when I asked her, "Are you nervous?"

"A little." She begrudgingly admitted her mother's stubborn streak coming out in her. Not that I would tell either of my best girls they were stubborn even though it was completely true.

"Danny's a good man." I said softly.

Reese just giggled saying, "You don't have to tell me twice."

I walked her down the lily flowered and candle filled aisle to her soon to be husband and nodded at Danny as he stood proudly next to his son.

"Who gives this young woman in holy matrimony to this young man today?" the priest asked.

After clearing my throat, I managed to say, "Her mother and I do."

The priest nods and I reluctantly let go of Reese's hand. As if she were five all over again she reaches over and wipes my tears away whispering, "Daddy don't cry this is a happy time not a sad one, but you can cry if you want to. I'll still love you anyway Daddy."

I chuckled and kissed her cheek back whispering, "I'm glad you'll still love me, Pieces. I'll always love you."

I then released her hand again and placed into Danny's sweaty one smiling at how nervous he was and then I took my seat in the pew with Lindsay and Cameron.

During the bible readings I whispered concernedly to my wife, "Honey should I be worried that I'm handing over our only daughter to a Messer?"

Lindsay giggled softly covering her hand with her mouth saying, "I'd be worried if Danny Jr. took after his father but seeing as he's all Giada through and through and he's on his way to becoming a successful doctor I'd say you have nothing to worry about. Our baby girl is in good hands."

I gave her a small smile and a squeeze of her hand as we watched Reese and Danny Jr. recite their own vows everyone in the church sobbing at the purity of their words and their love for each other. After the reception and watching my little girl hop off into her limo and enjoy her honey moon I went home to sit in what had been her bedroom the first eighteen years of her life.

Smiling as I sat down on the pink bedspread of her large platform bed complete with white mosquito netting for a canopy I couldn't help but notice how girly her room had been. Looking around I stared at all of her trophies and awards, no matter how girly she was Reese had been quite the athlete in school, middle school and highschool.

Winning trophies for soft ball, gymnastics, swimming, tennis and basketball. Also there were awards like best dressed, which she had been voted for three years of middle school and two out of four years of highschool, and there was the award I was most proud of since she was good at everything she did including school she had ended up being her class' valedictorian.

"Honey, where are you!" I hear Lindsay shout from our bedroom.

"I'm in Pieces' room!" I shout back.

"What are you doing in here?" She asks as she walks in.

"Just missing my little girl, I guess."

"Oh, Mac," Lindsay says coming to sit next to me, "You know Reese can't be a baby forever. Just like we can't be young forever."

Don't I know that one, I mean hell I'm almost 57!

"I know. But it all happened so damn fast," I end up conceding to Lindsay, "I mean Linds it seems like just yesterday you were screaming at me that if I ever touched you again I would lose a vital body part while you were trying to push her out."

"I know it's hard to believe too," Lindsay muses, "But we still have a son to take care of for a few more years he won't be moving out anytime soon."

I chuckled saying, "Cameron will eventually."

"Yeah I know and I'll be really upset when I lose my baby boy, but they all grow up and leave eventually. That's just parenthood."

"Hey, Dad are we going to the range or what?" Cameron asked as he walked into Reese's room.

I nod my head at my son saying, "Yeah, we better get there before it closes."

Cameron's hazel eyes that he inherited from Lindsay dart from me to her and then back at me as he questions, "Are you two cryin?"

He notices both Lindsay and I wipe away our tears and shouts as he laughs loudly, "God Reese just got hitched she didn't die!"

"Wait till you have kids, Cameron," I say as I slap his back, "Even the toughest men cry, kiddo."

Lindsay stood and hugged both her men as she liked to call us and we hugged her back before we headed downstairs to my truck so we could head off to the range. A couple years ago when Cameron was sixteen he had decided to forgo college and at eighteen after highschool enter into the police acadmey.

"So Dad," He asks as he climbs into my truck, "Can I take that girly room and totally trash it?"

I just glared at my son and that intstantly shut him up and afterwards we both laughed knowing that room would never change. And as we drove to the range I couldn't help but smile, it was going to be nice to have another generation of Taylors follow in the footsteps of my father and me by joining the police force.


End file.
